REDWOOD THANKS CONSTITUENTS FOR SUPPORT DURING HIS 'DIFFICULT TIME'

WOKINGHAM MP John Redwood has spoken to the Wokingham Times to thank his friends and constituents for their support in his "difficult time" following Sunday newspaper revelations about his marital split.

WOKINGHAM MP John Redwood has spoken to the Wokingham Times to thank his friends and constituents for their support in his "difficult time" following Sunday newspaper revelations about his marital split.

The 52-year-old former Welsh Secretary said it was a great honour to serve the constituents and that he would continue to do the job he was elected to do.

But Mr Redwood would not be drawn about a newspaper interview with his wife Gail, in which she claimed he ended their relationship by phone in March, and banned her from their Finchampstead home.

Speaking from his constituency home yesterday (Tuesday), in the only newspaper interview he has given on the break-up, he said: "I am very grateful for my many friends in Wokingham who have given me support during this difficult time.

"All of the constituents should know that it's a great honour to represent them.

"I intend to do the job to the best of my ability because I have promised to — and to put this personal situation behind me.

"I think too much has been said about it already."

Mr Redwood, who unsuccessfully challenged for the Tory party leadership in 1995 and 1997, married in 1974 and has two children.

His statement will do nothing to abate speculation about the true nature of the collapse of his unhappy marriage to Gail who suffered from depression following her redundancy as a highflying BA employee.

She claimed the end of the relationship came as a "bolt out of the blue", saying Mr Redwood had "gone a bit haywire", while admitting her depression made married life hard.

Friends of Mr Redwood immediately rallied to his defence claiming he made several attempts to save the marriage.

Major John Andrews, chairman of the Wokingham Conservative Constituency Association, said he thought Mrs Redwood's actions were strange.

He said: "He is not the sort of person who would ring up his wife and tell her it was all over.

"When they split they made a pact not to speak to the press, so none of us can understand why she is doing this.

"There were lots of problems but he was very supportive and when it came to the final crunch she didn't like the house in Finchampstead.

"We have known the Redwoods for some eight years and are friends of them both, but we are really surprised by her going to the press — she might have burned her bridges."

Mr Redwood bought her share of their £950,000 home after his wife moved to their holiday home in Swanage, Dorset.

She has confirmed the couple are separated but alleged she was not the one who left.

A close source in Westminster said of the MP: "There are not many left like him.

"I would have been surprised if anything untoward happened before the break up, but since the New Year he has changed for the better."